My Thanks For Your Support
How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
But it was very good of you to help me in my troubles. You Philippians know very well that when I left Macedonia in the early days of preaching the Good News, you were the only church to help me; you were the only ones who shared my profits and losses. More than once when I needed help in Thessalonica, you sent it to me. It is not that I just want to receive gifts; rather, I want to see profit added to your account. Here, then, is my receipt for everything you have given me—and it has been more than enough! I have all I need now that Epaphroditus has brought me all your gifts. They are like a sweet-smelling offering to God, a sacrifice which is acceptable and pleasing to him. And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs. To our God and Father be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
Phil 4:10-20
Have you seen that Paul is talking about the same thing in this wider passage. The translators and publishers of the NLT have combined it together to make it clear that from Philippians 4:10 to verse 20 Paul has been talking about the same thing. The giving and receiving relationship between the Philippian church and himself. In the first section Paul’s comments are related to their gift to him and their sharing relationship together. He uses the word [sugkoinōneō], literally, our “fellowship” together, but rightly translated “sharing”. But interestingly it is couched in terms of their sharing in his suffering. To what extent were they sharing in his suffering? Was this the same way he is talking about us sharing [koinōnian] in the sufferings of Christ? It is the same word; well the same root word. To what extent can we share in the sufferings of Christ and the Philippian church share in the suffering of Paul. Then later (4:15), Paul talks about him sharing in a [koinōneō] relationship with them, [dosis] and [lēmpsis]; giving and receiving? Hang on a minute, how can Paul be in a giving and receiving relationship with the Philippians? It makes no sense. There is no indication in the text that Paul ever gave anything financial to the Philippians. So in what way can he say they were in a giving relationship? But actually he doesn’t say they were in a giving relationship; what he wrote was they were in a doseōs / lēmpseōs relationship. Tell me that again Paul! You were in a giving and receiving relationship with the Philippians. How so?
Oh, I get it. They gave and you received. That is how it must have worked. They couldn’t give, unless you received. I understand that. As I have told you before I was told off by Clarice Bell from Te Poi when i dared to suggest we didn’t expect her to give us financial support because we knew she was on a pension and couldn’t afford it. She gave me a piece of her mind about that comment. She told me in no uncertain terms that I had to be prepared to receive her gift to us for her to be able to give. “Ian Vail, Don’t you rob me of the blessing of giving to God because you won’t receive it. I want to be involved in the blessing of giving to you and Tania. You have to be willing to receive it for that to happen.” Oh, OK. I stand rebuked. I get it now. Is that the extent to which this works? They give, Paul receives and it all works out? No, there is more to this than it first appears. Hang on to your wallet and your purse. There is more to this than meets the eye.
Paul very clearly says in the Greek text that they are in a giving receiving ~ relationship.
And you know, too, Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I went out from Macedonia, not one assembly shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only.
Phil 4:15
I have deliberately used the LITV translation to show you the giving ~ receiving link. We automatically assume the process is the Philippians give and Paul receives. No, they are both in a giving ~ receiving relationship. The Philippians giving and Paul receiving; Paul giving and the Philippians receiving. “No Ian! That can’t be! There is no mention in the text of Paul sending any money to the Philippians. it was a one way relationship. Them giving and Paul receiving.” No No, You don’t understand something which Clarice understood very well, so too did Robin and Christine Collins through their experience with the calves they had set aside for Ian and Tania Vail. (See Gem 253) Both of these sets of people, Clarice Bell and Robin & Christine Collins came to understand how this works in God. Actually I was made aware that Clarice understood this principle way before she supported us. She knew how this worked way earlier. Robin and Christine learned the way God works during their involvement in supporting us, Clarice knew the principle before supporting us because she had supported others before us.
Allow me to explain more fully by way of Philippians 4:19!
Look how the King James translation puts this verse:
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
The translators have translated the Greek word [δε] as “but” in an adversative sense, the contrary sense which suggests that the Philippians had helped Paul to their own detriment. But that is not the only way to translate [δε]. It could be an adversative sense but it could equally be used in a reciprocal sense. How so? Paul was not likely to give back to them. Assumedly this financial support relationship between the Philippians and Paul was a one way flow – the Philippians to Paul only! Not the other way around. No wait. Other translations have captured a different nuance in the verse with a different way of joining the ideas.
And My God will [APB, ASV, BBE, ESV, GW, ISV, NIV,
I pray that God will . . . [CEV,
Moreover [CJB,
My God will use His glorious riches . . . [ERV,
And with His abundant wealth . . . [GNB, ]
You can be sure that God will . . . [MSG]
I am convinced that God will . . . (TPT]
The translations are not consistent in using the same verb “supply”, but the intent is the same – “supply”, “give”, “fill”, “take care”, “provide”, “use his wealth / riches” . . . etc. Is it in the sense that the Philippians are worse off, impoverished because they gave? No!
There was a man in the church in Jakarta (JPCC) who was talking secretly with some of the cell group leaders and telling them that giving, specifically faith promise giving didn’t work. He sent me an article from a Texan PhD which indicated tithing and giving offerings was a principle of the Old Testament and was not applicable in the New Testament. He asked me if it was true that not all people in Old Testament in Israel tithed. I said yes, that was true. The priests didn’t tithe. those in the army didn’t tithe. True. He assumed I thought like him and concluded it was a ploy of the church to get money. He then invited me to a lunchtime meeting with a number of the home group (DATE) leaders without checking the nature of my agreement. He told the leaders, “Pak Ian agrees that we don’t have to tithe.” I said strongly “Oh no I don’t. While some in Israel didn’t tithe, it is still a principle of God for us to give a portion of what He has given to us back to Him for His work.
He then claimed (on the basis of what the Texan PhD had claimed) that tithing is for the Old Testament times only. I disagreed and said, “Don’t you understand, you have more two bank accounts.”
He said, “I have more than two.”
I said, “You may do but what I am meaning is that you have a bank account on earth and you have a bank account in heaven. How do you transfer money to heaven? Can Bank ANZ do it? Can Bank BCA do it? No! The only way you can get money into your heavenly bank account is by giving to the poor and looking after the widows etc. That is how you get money into your heavenly bank account.”
Paul is not saying by the use of [δε] that it is a “but situation” in Philippians 4:19. It was not the fact that the Philippians were disadvantaged at all. Rather I believe that Paul was meaning:
“You have supplied all my needs. God on my behalf shall supply all your needs.”
The pronouns used and the emphatic placement of such pronouns in these verses indicate that Paul doesn’t see they were giving to him but rather they were giving to God’s work. The giving to Paul was a sacrificial giving to God’s work. Paul was in debt to God for their gift. Thus he could not repay them himself but he handed the debt to God to repay the Philippians. Paul accepted the giving and the offerings as given to God and not to himself. Thus it was God who would repay the Philippians.
i.e. “God (on my behalf) will supply your every need.”
God will [plēroō] you. God Himself will cover the debt in full. God will fill up all your needs. God Himself will fill to overflowing, God will repay you. God will reimburse you. Have you got the idea yet? it is hard for me to cover all the angles on this one. Paul appears to indicate in the first section, when the Philippians were not sending gifts to Paul that he was impoverished. He was sadly in need. He went hungry and without food. That is the sense that we can pick up from the text. Some commentators emphasize that sense from verses 4:10-12; 4:14-17. The idea that because the Philippians didn’t send money for a period of time that Paul was impoverished. The reverse to that thought is is as the guy in Jakarta thought from the input from the Texan. When people give they are impoverished because they have exchanged their plenty for lack. That is nonsense! Why? because you are leaving God out of the equation.
Allow me to say this in conclusion. If I, as a rich person, have an abundance of resources and you, as a poor person with meagre resources, have a need in order to do God’s work God intends that I give to you from my abundance. But of course, if i give you the $100 or the $10,000 in my account to meet your need, now I am without resources. I am relying on that $10,000 dollars I have in my bank account to cover what I might need in the future for me and my family. I may think that is all I have. If I give it to you then I am impoverished and you have plenty. No, that’s wrong thinking. That’s not Kingdom thinking! If these transactions are for Kingdom purposes then we are then in the same position. Both of us are now relying on God to meet our need. That now places both of us (rich and poor alike) in debt to God. Tania and I have learned over years of giving that you can’t out-give God. Having given to God’s work you are now in a stronger position than before. That is now to your advantage if you can learn to think that way.
That is exactly what Paul is saying with the way that he has used the words in the text here. Paul is saying that he is in a giving and receiving relationship with the Philippians via God. They give to Paul and He gives to them vicariously as it were, through God. They give to Paul and then Paul prays that God will meet their need through His riches in glory or through His glorious riches. The end result is the same – abundance to meet the Philippians’ need. That dear friends is the key that I know for sure Clarice and the Collins saw in the process of supporting us in the work in Sulawesi. That is why Clarice could say to me, “Ian Vail, don’t you rob me of the blessing of giving to God. If God tells me to give, who are you to refuse to receive it from me. You are robbing me of the blessing of giving to God.”
Got it now Clarice and I know that you too have got it now! You are able to look at the balance in your heavenly bank account.
I hope this has not been too convoluted for you to grasp. If it seems a bit obtuse, read it again. I am confident you will get it after reading it a second time. Then both of us will have learned something from Clarice Bell of Te Poi. (See Gem 386, Gem 1565 and Gem 1608)
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Acts 20:35
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Malachi 3:10